Author: admin

Some stuff gets in the way of other stuff, so some stuff is ignored, some is started but not finished, and wonder of wonders, occasionally one of the stuffs gets done.

Monday, Nov 20

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 19: SpO2 low 82, 10 events <88% with overall avg., 90.2%. Avg. low SpO2, 86.7%. Pulse avg. 54.0, low 50. Slept 6 hrs 40 min.

Changed email addresses several places. Kaiser Permanente was the toughest. Also tried to get through to MedicAlert, but failed. Got to Pend Oreille Shores.

I’m spending incredible hours and not seeing much get accomplished as quickly as needed.

Tuesday, Nov 21

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 21: SpO2 low 82, 9 events <88% with overall avg., 91.1%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.3%. Pulse avg. 55.4, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 27 min.

We left for Cle Elum at 9:40 a.m. We took some White Heron wine along with us for our friends there. We decided to take the freeway up and Hwy 10 back. Our trip both ways was fine, with rain and intermittent fog (mostly on the tops of hills, not in our driving path). We arrived on time, but were not admitted until 11:00. We handed over our stool samples. We had our vitals taken by the nurse, and she handed us a copy of our labs. We compared notes and formed questions for our doctor, who soon arrived.

We revisited and heard about our lab findings. Considering we were born during the 2nd World War, overall, everything is fine, and we are healthy. John was put on a thyroid pill, Levothyroxine, because the tests indicated a slight thyroid hormone deficiency (age related?). For a similar issue, I’m being rechecked because the standard test is for FT4 and the Doc is curious about FT3. These are hormones and one gets converted, or not, into the other in the body. So, more blood drawn from Nancy and in two weeks we’ll go back. John’s prescription was sent to the pharmacy in EBRG. Mine did not make it. I’ll call first thing Monday morning and try to figure what’s up.

Our med-tech phlebotomist there in Cle Elum is a friend of many years (we took her a bottle of Syrah Rosé; learned she really likes Malbec; so in 2 weeks we’ll carry one of those).

Wednesday, November 22

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 20: SpO2 low 82, 11 events <88% with overall avg., 91.3%. Avg. low SpO2, 88.7%. Pulse avg. 56.7, low 51. Slept 8 hrs 4 min. (done)

Called nurse Diane about the prescription for me from Dr. Wood for Hydrocodone (aka Vicodin). That’s his suggested substitute for Oxycodone. I’ve still got some, but almost never use, Oxycodone but WA State is pushing hard to restrict it, and the clinics are where the State enforcement starts. Shoulder pain is a pain that requires it when playing fiddle for over an hour or for extreme exertion during exercising such as Jazzercise.

I was going to ask about my Thyroid prescription, but nurse Diane never returned the call. So, I will try again Monday, early. Never good to be needing medical attention on weekends or before or during a holiday.

We played music (last time for Oct/Nov), at Hearthstone today (a day early, because of Thanksgiving. Thanks to Charlie, Laura, Manord, Maury, Dean, Anne, Evie, and our guest Katie from Bend, OR for entertaining the residents, and guests. Thanks to Katie’s hubby, Chuck for coming along to sing, and her mom Barb, who enjoyed and sang the music too.

After the music, Gloria and I went to Community Thanksgiving Dinner. We had a nice time, greeting folks and eating. The plate was full of food: tender sliced turkey meat (dark and white), mashed potatoes, dressing, corn & green beans, grandma roll, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, & lemonade (or hot drink).

I came home and have been working some on dishes, but mostly on changing email addresses. This is turning into a monumental task.

Thursday, Nov 23 Happy Thanksgiving!

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 22: SpO2 low 80, 17 events <88% with overall avg., 91.9%. Avg. low SpO2, 88.5%. Pulse avg. 55.0, low 50. Slept 7 hrs 47 min.

John now has a runny nose and is sneezing, so we are happy we don’t have any Thanksgiving commitments. We can’t think of an obvious source, perhaps an unfriendly spirit. We are spending time in the house because it’s still raining. A slight opening in the weather allowed John to go feed this morning and now we can just stay put. We’ve only fed one of the outside cats, Salazar, who must sleep nearby in our car shed. He’s ready early and back during the day to be a companion cat with John on his chores around the property. Czar’s the first in for dinner too. Woody sleeps farther away in a hay shed. Her momma, Sue, goes back across Naneum Road – to someplace on Swedberg’s old dairy buildings, where she originated.

We have to be careful not to expose me to germs, although I probably have built up immunity with my recent infection, or not. Because of the music and Senior Center activities, I’m around more folks than John. Maybe I brought germs home to him.

I’m multi-tasking. I spent a lot of time last night working on the changes in email, and unleashed a ton more changes required I need to tackle today and this weekend. I had primarily been concentrating on email address notification, but I realized there is a ton of information in the ‘messages-received’ from places all over, contacting us about something. So, I have to follow through changing those too, because the sender is identified in the message but not entered into our address book.
I am trying to switch tasks every so often, because that way, everything gets a little attention. Yet still today I haven’t made it back to email changes yet.

We just finished a non-conventional Thanksgiving brunch, with John’s special efforts. We had home fries with his onions, 2 eggs over easy, bacon, and a piece of English Muffin toast with Marionberry jam for me and a wheat English Muffin for him. It was all quite good. We’ve been adding smoked turkey to salads, so not having lots of left-overs from a big roast is not an issue.

Now back to putting the music for Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! into my SongWriter 2012 software. I need to share it with a piano player (19 yrs old) for a special performance Dec 15 at our senior center. He played fiddle with our group for the Veterans Day music this year, and his brother played Home on the Range on his viola (my switched over ¾ size violin from 4th grade days). I plan to add it to the end of our December music, but may decide not to. And might carry it through to the Jan-February music, if I decide against putting it with the December stuff (cause I don’t have time to make copies for the audiences). They may know the song so I don’t have to worry. It was written in 1945, and many singers have sung it through the years.

To any Facebook friends, check this video, from Bobbie (Roberta) Pearce, my violin teacher from Nampa, ID. Bobbie came up to WA for 22 years – the WOTFA summer workshops.

LINK

She is playing the piano, her daughter Katrina Nicolayeff is a left-handed violinist (a National Grand Champion) is on the microphone and the others are the Junior Jammers, presenting a hoedown performance. Katrina is their teacher/conductor. We think the mother of Libby Rogers (next to Katrina) took the video.

Wow, it’s 2:35 p.m. and the sun just arrived, after the wind, and this morning with rain, fog, and low visibility. Weird weather. Maybe John will get to do some outside chores! It gets dark about 4:30. Sunset is at 4:18 this weekend – on the Naneum Fan.

Tonight we had a nice supper of mushrooms, onions, and open-faced cheeseburger with a Rome apple cut up, and for dessert, John baked a chocolate cake, I frosted with cream cheese frosting, and he covered with his own Carpathian walnuts. The boxed cake and the tub of frosting are well past their best-by dates. That’s why we are making cakes and trying to watch our calories at the same time.

I have been capturing information from credit card statement messages on the old account and had to look for usernames and passwords that I seldom use. I had to get into these to change the preferred email for receiving announcements about monthly statements that come. Switching laptop computers mid-year is also causing access problems. John’s view is “losing this old e-mail account is a curse.” I totally agree.

I made more good progress today on some music needed for Dec 15, Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Cannot believe that song was written so long ago, but it is younger than I am.

Friday, Nov 24

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 23: SpO2 low 83, 7 events <88% with overall avg., 91.7%. Avg. low SpO2, 88.3%. Pulse avg. 57.8, low 49. Slept 8 hrs 18 min.

We went to WalMart and found the All Bran in three types we wanted to try and got 2 boxes of the Original. Prices there are the best around, including on line. Costco doesn’t carry original All Bran, nor do any of the groceries in EBRG. Two places carry the buds.

Our trip to Costco was primarily for my glasses and to pick up a few things for our neighbor. Missing was unsalted roasted cashews we faithfully have gotten for her (and us) for years. They no longer carry them, so I have to find a local source, or check at WalMart the next time we are in Yakima.

Saturday, Nov 25

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 24: SpO2 low 80, 8 events <88% with overall avg., 90.7%. Avg. low SpO2, 87.8%. Pulse avg. 55.7, low 49. Slept 5 hrs 31 min - 2.5 hrs more off Oximeter.

John put out the placeholder this morning about 9:30 a.m. Don’t miss it. Fun stories. Click the bold letters in the block below:

{ TW’NSNN }

And, I will add another special effects video, from my friend Keith Kleinfelder of his daughter – only for those who have Facebook access. This is no doubt worth getting on Facebook!
His explanation: “This is our daughter (Kiana) on her first “burn.” They’re called fire poi. They are porous ceramic cubes on chains with a strap to hold on to, dipped in Lantern fuel. These were special-ordered from New Zealand by her brother.”
It’s more than just a food of Hawaii and Samoa; this definition is from the web: A small ball made of leaves and fibres, attached to a string; also, a traditional dance performed by Maori women involving the rhythmic swinging of such a ball. [from 19th c.] ( https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/poi ) Kiana’s Poi Debut – 11-24-17
Poise with Pois

In the morning, we both worked on kitchen chores. John repackaged 5 lbs. of link sausage he bought yesterday, into bags of 4 for the freezer. He got 14 packages, and kept one for lunch. So they are about 25¢ per link.

I spent time on and off all morning loading the dishwasher. Now, I have the chore of putting 5 dozen eggs into individual cartons from the big bunch we got at Costco. My neighbor Ken brought me a ton of them, because I only had one left, from giving mine to the Food Bank for distribution. They give ½ dozen at a time to their clients, and now the egg production has cut back.

We had a great late brunch, two sausage links each, two eggs over easy, a piece of English Muffin toast with Marionberry jam, and a large fresh pear cut into many slices. It was all quite good.

John worked before the rains came on outside chores in the front yard. It started raining about 4:00 and continues.

Now it is Sunday morning and the first outside cat has been fed.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy & John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Monday, Nov 13

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 12: SpO2 low 82, 6 events <88% with overall avg., 91.5%. Avg. low SpO2, 88.9%. Pulse avg. 59.8, low 52. Slept 5 hrs 33 min.

Early morning, I turned on the electric heater to warm up the back bathroom for my shower. That is the cold end of the house, during the winter months. We are going to the foot doctor. Trimming is paid for by Medicare every 3 months, but there needs to be a shorter time interval, and there ought to be a better way. This is the (real) doctor that I went to about nail-fungus. He is an interesting person with a big family and ancestors from northern Italy. We ask questions and he talks while he clips. Initially, he asked questions and I talked.

Mornings on our front pad bring various birds, including quail by the score. This picture is only a few of them, about a fifth ? of the bunch John saw before I got my camera out. I forget how many he said he counted. It was more than a covey. They fly in, walk in through the fence, for sunflower seeds he puts several places, including on the concrete.The spool was once used for puppies. There is a small solar light on top and a couple of bowls for seed – under partial cover.

We went by Audra’s for Klaire probiotic and got the good news I have lost 12 inches more and 10 lbs., since last in Sept 9th. My clothes are definitely fitting better. My % body fat is much lower.
(John says: “This time I think the loss was because she was sick.)

While there we also discussed John’s health and she made some suggestions and gave him some things to try. He is considering going to the gym during the winter to keep in shape, while not doing trail maintenance work. He still is keeping busy around here with projects until the snow falls and stays.

Tuesday, Nov 14

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 13: SpO2 low 82, 14 events (most 87) <88% with overall avg., 90.9%. Avg. low SpO2, 88.0%. Pulse avg. 58.0, low 51. Slept 8 hrs 27 min.

Early morning, we took chocolate chip cookies and raspberry coffee cake to Hearthstone for the Emeritus Geographers’ meeting, with a good crowd of folks: Lillian Brooks, Dee Eberhart & son Urban, Jim and Diane Huckabay, with her intern, Thomas Hull, a masters student in History, working on genealogical research, John and me, and I invited my friend, Gloria Swanson, who just moved into Hearthstone, and is into genealogical research as a DAR member. Oddly, enough, she had met Thomas in Yakima at a meeting. We had a very intriguing roundtable talk about our varied pasts and current geographical topics of interest and some intersecting historical connections and memories all around the U. S. and world.
Then at the end, we brought it back to our region with Urban Eberhart’s report on the Yakima Basin Project of getting water back into several streams that had gone dry over the years of shoveling all the irrigation water into agricultural pursuits. Now locals, state, and federal folks are involved in planning for working toward the whole Columbia Basin. He told us a fascinating story about moving fish from dams to the stream for their journey.

In this case the journey is downstream, out of the reservoir. The project is now being built. It involves a helix tube with water going down.
Here is a photo of a plant that makes a helix tube. A coiled spring is another example. For the fish, openings in the reservoir will be at many levels, so as the water goes up or down, fish can find an entrance. Initial experiments had the fish “flung” against the tube wall, so they tinkered with the shape and amount of flow until the fish happily made the passage.
The fish go down backwards – head into the flow. That seemed odd, but don’t airplanes face that way at takeoff?
If this helical systems works well it will solve one-half of the fish migration issue. Going upstream is the next challenge. [Maybe we’ll get a tour soon.]

John and I came home for him to change his clothes, and then we went up for the first part of our annual medical meeting. The 2nd visit is next week. No one understands this except an unknown bureaucrat in the Government. We thought the first was just with the nurse, and she took our vitals, checked our records, and gave us a mental acuity (we guess) test. We were handed a circle and asked to put the numbers of the face of a clock on it. Then we had to draw in the time 11:10. She gave us each 3 words to remember that she would ask later in our visit. We were not allowed to write them down. Doing that in the same room, was probably not the wisest. Whoever goes second needs not to listen to the first person’s words. John remembered one of my words, and forgot one of his.
We were to get a Flu shot, and we had a long visit with our new doctor, Dr. Norman Wood, before the nurse returned with the immunization. We always go to each other’s physician’s appointments (such as my cardiologist), and he did not mind at all. The nurse told us there are other couples who do likewise.

We are exceptionally happy with him. Our doctor since 1988 retired this year, and we remained there (in Cle Elum), 45 minutes from our home. We know all the staff there, so it didn’t make sense to change locations.

During our visit we found out a bunch of personal information about him and he learned a lot about our medical history. Both of us are happy he has experienced some of the same health issues as we each have.

We got there at 1:30 and were taken into the examination room at 2:00. We were there for well over an hour. We had to come home, feed animals, and get back to Dean Hall, to the Museum of Culture & Environment for a talk by our Geography colleague (Megan Walsh), with a Geological Sciences faculty member (Susan Kaspari).

I told Megan about our timing on the afternoon appointment, but that we would do our best to make it. We got there in time! I had my old camera and I videotaped the evening, including the questions afterward. I was sitting a bit on an angle, but most is legible and their voices can be heard. Also, I was doing it by hand holding and not with a tripod, so excuse the jiggles. I have permission to share this link:

Fire & Ice: Susan Kaspari & Megan Walsh, CWU, 11-14-17
History from ice and mud

This following information is what I put with the YouTube description. CWU professors Susan Kaspari (Geological Sciences) and Megan Walsh (Geography) helped us envision the future of climate change in the Pacific Northwest by looking into the past. Susan’s research examines the impact of black carbon (commonly referred to as soot; think big wildfires) on the melting rates of glaciers and seasonal snowpack.

Megan’s research explores how ancient charcoal deposits can help us understand past fire activity. Secondarily, the pollen in the sediment can help recreate what plants were there over time. Taken together, the work can help us understand the complicated relationship between humans, fire, ice/snow, and climate change. WA’s mountains and the entire area to the north of us was covered by ice just 13,500 years ago.

Wednesday, November 15

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 14: SpO2 low 81, 12 events <88% with overall avg., 90.7%. Avg. low SpO2, 87.4%. Pulse avg. 55.3, low 49. Slept 7 hrs 42 min.

I went to FISH Food Bank with eggs & tuna salad for myself, so I don’t have to eat pasta and green mixed salad with things in it I cannot have (because of Vitamin K content). I did have some baked apples (from there) to go along with it, and orange juice.
First, we played ½ hour of music, and then visited with our fan club members over lunch. Several sing along with us from their table. We provide the lyrics for them.

This afternoon I worked on several projects on the computer, while John is finalizing outside activities.Amy Davison sent this of our Carpathian walnuts candied and roasted, and sent the recipe. She said her house smelled amazing. Daughter Haley shelled them.

Thursday, Nov 16

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 15: SpO2 low 84, 10 events <88% with overall avg., 91.1%. Avg. low SpO2, 88.2%. Pulse avg. 56.4, low 50. Slept 7 hrs 52 min.

I called Terri (the Activities Director) at Pacifica. We will need all the chairs for a big crowd of players today.

I had signed up for the Nov 16 Knudson’s Lumber Ladies Night Out, 6:00 – 7:30 – I’m taking some stuffed toys to donate to the Community Christmas Basket.
I didn’t realize I was double booking, because we are going to the local Audubon Chapter that night, in town from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. I took John to the center early, which is part of the Ellensburg Library, and there are many magazines people (we have too) put in the entrance way to share. He knew he would have a load of reading material. I dropped him off and got back to the parking lot before 6:00. There was a long line stretched from the front door, around the parking lot, and back toward the back of the store, where I had parked. It was chilly, but I had on a winter coat. I got to the door and one of my friends saw me and came back to visit. It was an interesting chance meeting. I saw only 3 others inside that I knew. It was a zoo. Many people signed up on Facebook, and 174 registered through that, but many others just showed up from the community. Anything one can put in a 5-gallon bucket (they loan) is 20% off. And, if you want something from the lumber yard, you have the personnel write what you will get later, and they charge you for it at 20% off. I went with a request for 3” nails (galvanized and zinc-coated for John’s outside projects), and I brought it home in a nice Knudson’s pink shopping bag, which was given to the first 100 customers. I took this before I left so I would know what he wanted. These are 4” and he wanted 3”.

I received a $5 coupon to use as Knudson’s Kash in December, so we can go back for anything else he might need. No men were allowed to this event. I visited several vendors and picked up some free samples from them (a lip balm and ice scraper). People who signed in on Facebook were given a gift, which was a bag of nice chocolates. John shared those when I got home. I left as soon as I could and barely got back to the Audubon chapter meeting before it started.

I took my camera to the Kittitas Audubon monthly meeting and videotaped part of the excellent presentation:

African Wildlife Safari-A Look at Kenya & Rwanda, by Doug Kuene
Photos from East Africa

Apologies for the left side of the lens being blurred. No clue why. I have cleaned off the lens. I only got 28 minutes of the talk, missing the mountain gorillas. (My battery ran out of electrons and I didn’t have another to substitute).

Friday, Nov 17

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 16: SpO2 low 79, 10 events <88% with overall avg., 90.0%. Avg. low SpO2, 87.0%. Pulse avg. 54.0, low 50. Slept 7 hrs 52 min.

We got up and to town for a fasting blood draw, requested by our new doctor. We made it there and back by 9:20.

Then I left for lunch at CWU, Geography, for our scholarship luncheon meeting, dropped off a check for my CWURA (retirement association) membership, ate a Chicken Caesar salad and a fun dessert, visited, and then drove down to meet John at Super 1, where he left his car and I drove mine to Costco (‘cause it needed gasoline). We got a good price there ($2.629/gal).

My main reason for going today was to get my prescription filled on my glasses for correction to my left eye (from the laser surgery, which did not return to better, as predicted). I will only have to use them for urban driving or for night driving because it also corrects for astigmatism. My right eye will only be improved slightly because it is still in good shape, but the left eye’s nearsightedness will be corrected to 4 times better. I chose the first frame I picked up, and probably looked at 5 or 6. It will take them about a week to make them. For $30 off, one can buy a second set; I decided to use the same type of frame and get a pair of sunglasses. That’s the only cost I will have because insurance covers the first pair. I haven’t needed any glasses in 20 years (because of my intraocular lens replacements in 1997).

Saturday, Nov 18

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 17: SpO2 low 83, 7 events <88% with overall avg., 91.1%. Avg. low SpO2, 87.9%. Pulse avg. 54.1, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 3 min.

Called Morris Uebelacker (he was hired at CWU as a geographer the same year I was hired, 1988). We had a great phone visit with the 3 of us, about his summer and fall (mostly river travels), and told him about the field trip tomorrow. It is in his part of the region and CWU colleagues will be there. I’m staying home because of a hiking component I’m not up to.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with music at Briarwood, and a nice meal the ladies (and one gentleman) prepare for us to share with the residents after we play. Today’s menu was multiple (calico) bean and ground beef soup, rolls, cracker/chips, and a dessert table with apple/pecan bread with caramel/coconut frosting, corn flakes cookies, chocolate chip w/ nuts cookies, and some containers of Jello (I think; I didn’t take any). We had a good turn-out of players and of audience. We always have fun there. I came home with a gift of a loaf of the apple/nut bread that Bill always makes for me (and I took him a birthday present, plus we sang happy birthday to him), and I brought home a little bag from Betty of her Corn Flakes cookies. She talked to me Wednesday at the food bank when we were there for playing music, and I told her I’d see her today. So she was ready. Usually, I take home leftovers of her cookies (not many), so she wanted to be sure I had some, in case. John took them with him on his field trip Sunday.

Started working on music once home, and it continued most of the day.

Sunday, Nov 19

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 18: SpO2 low 82, 5 events <88% with overall avg., 91.1%. Avg. low SpO2, 87.8%. Pulse avg. 55.7 low 50. Slept 8 hrs 28 min.

After getting ice off the car, John left for CWU.
I spent the morning doing music and several sinks of dishes. I washed a full dishwasher load that finished about the time he arrived home.
Changed my password on my CWU account. I need to ask how to access email there through MyCWU.

The field trip was to visit places scoured by the late Ice Age floods – 20,000 to 14,000 years ago. The final stop was at a place where lava erupted in a fiery curtain about 15 Million years ago. First picture is from Iceland, that shows what such a thing looks like.Next is a view of Rock Creek Valley where the lava of the Rosa flood-basalt came through the surface. The violent eruption throws hot material into piles where, somewhat air cooled, it compacts, cools, and leaves mounds and ridges. Below, on the right shows the interior of a spatter-ridge. (John took these photos on Sunday, Nov. 19th.)Some believe the eruption was along the bottom of the valley (black spots are cows). The scene is from the ridge where the right side photo is from.) The landscape has undergone a lot of action over 15 M. years, so it is hard to know.

John got home about 6 PM, in the dark. He fed the horses, and we fed cats, and ourselves. A couple of hours later, it began to snow and then changed to rain.
John got buckets under the drip line. So, the timing was good. It is really coming down! The buckets are half full.

Have a nice Thanksgiving week.
Hope your past week was fine.

Nancy & John
Still on the Naneum Fan

Sunday, Nov 5

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 4: SpO2 low 82, 9 events <88% with overall avg., 90.9%. Avg. low SpO2, 88.1%. Pulse avg. 54.3, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 21 min.

John started by moving snow, feeding the birds, and two outside cats. He also ordered more ink cartridges for our printer and a heated water bowl for the outside feral cats that now arrive morning, night, and throughout the day at our front porch, wanting canned food to supplement their hard pellets.
Busy all day with outside and inside chores for us.
Published the blog quite late .. just before midnight.

Monday, Nov 6

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 5: SpO2 low 82, 6 events <88% with overall avg., 90.8%. Avg. low SpO2, 88.2%. Pulse avg. 54.9, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 10 min.

This morning, I worked on the photos John took at the AAC on Friday’s Veterans’ Celebration, to send to the AAC.

Late afternoon, our heated water bowl for the outside feral cats arrived along with more printer ink cartridges. They came quickly from a place just 100 miles west. We just ordered them through Amazon and ETA was Tuesday. Frequently stuff comes from near Reno, NV so perhaps this is an expanding distribution center.

I need to work on photos I took in Seattle at the WTA Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. I only did a couple for last week’s blog. Still need to do that, and it is now the end of the week.

Tuesday, Nov 7

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 6: SpO2 low 84, 4 events <88% with overall avg., 92.7.1%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.7 %. Pulse avg. 53.8, low 50. Slept 7 hrs 5 min.

I managed to get to people about Emeriti Geographers’ Meeting next Tuesday morning, to KV F&F about this week, and last week’s pix, to visit with the Interim Dir. of F.I.S.H. food bank for donation to Thanksgiving clients there and to the community thanksgiving dinner.

John found things to do while I went to exercise, Bi-Mart, and two other stops. He brought to the front a non-used old heavy dog house from its lonely existence at the edge of the back fence. It rode on our wheel barrow replacement – a Gorilla Cart.
Where we acquired this “dog” house is a mystery. Picture below. It is double walled and insulated – without a front door. Now it is close to our home’s front door near an electrical outlet, on 12″ decorative concrete blocks.
The food and water will be high and dry and the cats will be happy – we think. South of the house, the old set-up was a pain for John and them, and slowly they all decided to stay out front.

Thus far, we have not seen any get into the house. One cat watched the whole procedure, so we know he knows it’s there, and he had been drinking from the water pan when it was on the nearby porch. They will find it quickly, I’m sure. This will beat balancing on the heated horse trough in the corral that they sometimes did in the winter.
Later: They all found it and are using it.This is the old dog house John converted to the outside cat house to house the heated water bowl and hard food for the feral cats.
Buckets are under the drip line; water is used on trees and flowers, or just dumped on the grass. Otherwise, in very cold weather there would be a mound of ice built on the concrete.

Our place is designed so you get dripped on going out, as in the right photo below. Garages should be set-up as in the left photo. But note the “valley” over the door exit – when it rains hard water will pour into that area and even the gutters can’t handle it. Dormers can help but add complexity and cost to the roof and house.

Wednesday, November 8

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 7: SpO2 low 80, 6 events <88% with overall avg., 90.3%. Avg. low SpO2, 87.9%. Pulse avg. 56.7, low 48. Slept 7 hrs 50 min.

Going to FISH Food Bank with a salad for myself, so I don’t have to eat pasta and green mixed salad with things in it I cannot have (because of Vitamin D content).

Met with Peggy Morasche, the new Interim Executive Director, and found out she is 3 years younger than I am, and grew up in the same general (Atlanta) neighborhood as I did. Small world. I gave her a check to pay for turkeys for the Food Bank’s clients and another for a few turkeys at the Community Thanksgiving Dinner. I always go and John doesn’t. This year I’m taking my friend, Gloria, as we will be playing at Hearthstone, right before the event starts. It is the day before Thanksgiving this year, free, and a fun event. These places and events get much donated but need to buy some things, such as the turkeys. More people are coming, so this year we decided to help out. Seems like it is catalog season too, cheese, candy, meats, and we’ve thrown those all away.

So, I was at the Food Bank to play music. We had a big crowd. Most people I have ever seen in there – 80! Must be the cold weather bringing them in.
On to SAIL class and then to Valley Vision for my check up on the laser surgery.

I saw Dr. Davis (my normal eye doctor), not the surgeon, and assumed my eye surgery (laser) to take away the film on the lens had failed and would have to be redone. He checked and nothing is there, no film, but I also do not have the better vision in the left eye they said I would have. That’s sad. But, he gave me a prescription for glasses for times when it is dark to correct my night vision and get rid of the astigmatism. I have an old pair I still use at night when driving, and I use in big cities when I need to see small street signs; they were what I used to drive to Seattle last Friday. He says the new ones will be 4 times better for my left eye and one time better for my right. My left eye used to be my dominant eye. So much so, that I started early in life shooting my shotgun left-handed, because I could sight better. John is right handed and left-eyed (right eye works but his brain doesn’t use it – fusion horror). With a shotgun he points and shoots instinctively. That was the way our old Choc did with depth perception and only one eye, after losing sight in the other. He could still mark birds and retrieve them by instinct.
I will take my prescription to Costco and just ask for the nearsighted correction, as I don’t need bifocals. I have good close-up vision.

Thursday, Nov 9

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 8: SpO2 low 84, 3 events <88% with overall avg., 90.1%. Avg. low SpO2, 90.1%. Pulse avg. 53.9, low 49. Slept 7 hrs 4 min.

Started dishes and didn’t finish until just before supper tonight.
Called in 10 chair count to Meadows. We actually had 10 players with chairs, and another 2 standing or using their personal seat.

We both left for Meadows music at 1:10 p.m., with me driving.

Late going to bed; almost midnight.

Friday, Nov 10

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 9: SpO2 low 85, 3 events <88% with overall avg., 91.4%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.2%. Pulse avg. 54.4, low 50. Slept 5 hrs 43 min.

Early morning, I had called Tony Brooks at 925-1414 at our local newspaper. I needed to change our email on the electronic edition to our new joint gmail, nancyJohnHultquist@gmail.com with password and get rid of the old one.

I went to Food Bank, to see the twins (cooks) we have known since being members of the Kittitas Valley Trail Riders starting in the 1990s. Carolyn & Marilyn cooked breasts of chicken (the chicken tenderloin) for the meat. I took my own salad, lettuce, apples, pistachios, & Cheezits along and cut up and added the two chicken loins to it. They had apple crisp for dessert, but I passed. I sat with a friend from Briarwood and wished him a happy birthday (today). I’m only a couple months older.

From there I went to Amy & Haley’s to deliver some items, and then on to my favorite phlebotomist at the local hospital, arranging to arrive after she’d returned from lunch. She starts work at 6:00 a.m. I got to her about 1:20 and she took me right in, drew my blood, and sent me on my way.

I came home and called to see if they’d received my blood draw results yet. They checked and only one (INR) had come in. It was good at 2.6, but I have to be rechecked in 3 weeks. My BMP was not there, so I called the hospital lab and asked if it was sent to both doctors. The gal Faxed it up to Cle Elum, and I called to tell Cody (nurse) to expect it. She checked and it had come through just then. My readings were: 132 Sodium, up almost to the lower range of that, from 122 on Oct 4 in ER, and then 126, a couple days later. I’m scheduled for another with the next time I’m in, 12/1. The other things on the BMP test are potassium (4.3), and Creatinine (1.3). So, I’m perking along.

I signed up for the Nov 16 Knudson’s Lumber Ladies Night Out 6:00 – 7:30 – I’m taking some stuffed toys to donate to the community Christmas Basket. I didn’t realize I was double booking, because we are going to the local Audubon Chapter that night, in town from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. I will go ahead, and then John will drive himself in to meet me there; I will leave the store early to make it to the meeting.

Saturday, Nov 11 Veterans Day

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 10: SpO2 low 84, 2 events <88% with overall avg., 92.7%. Avg. low SpO2, 90.4%. Pulse avg. 54.3, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 55 min.

We celebrated our Veterans Day twice, about a week apart. Here was the start, last week. Then a celebration yesterday when I went by Hearthstone to visit Gloria Swanson (my 92 year old friend today), and we heard about a veterans’ remembrance downstairs in the Garden Walk (right below her apt.). So we attended, visited with several, had popcorn, and apple cider.

Here’s the rest of the story from Nov. 3 Veterans Celebration: both articles written by Mike Johnston and printed in the local newspaper, the Daily Record, on Nov 11, 2017.
(1) This is one about Dee Eberhart:
Local WWII vet memories may go digital

(2) This one is the one with Dr. Meyer’s dad mentioned and Hal Mason’s dad:
Remembrances of War: Efforts ongoing to capture history

Centerpiece and Barb, Dee, and Katie Eberhart (their orchard’s apples we picked were served at the celebration luncheon, 11-3-17).Veterans Celebration Nov 3, ’17 at AAC (Senior Center) – our neighbor and friend since 1989, Allen Aronica, in red vest.Color guard * Nancy introduces music, 2017 * Nancy in 2013

This morning we got a notification from Kathleen Martin Dieguez that her family (hubby + 3 kids) and her brother’s girls (Becky & Liz) would be visiting Ellensburg today and wanted to meet and say hello. She gave me her phone number and we started making plans. Becky is already in town, a student at CWU, and a member of the CWU Equestrian team with her horse, “Snickers.”
We managed to make it happen, and it was a fun few hours.
We did not have our camera but Kathy gave her phone to one of the owners and he took our photo.

We started at Super 1 with part of the group, and four of the youngest went on two scavenger hunts around the store, with their smart phones to record a picture of the items. It was a clever game Kathy honchoed. Most of us had soft drinks or coffee. Three of us didn’t have anything to drink, and we saved eating any food to go to a special place in town, Boss Brazilian BBQ. When Becky was done at Orrion Farms, she came on down and met us at Super 1. We visited a bit, in the room with tables, chairs, and fireplace, but the fireplace was broken. Sadly, because it adds a nice ambiance to the setting.

The Boss Brazilian BBQ is owned and run by a family. Here’s a peek at the kind of food served. We ate at two picnic tables pulled together for our 9 people. All the meat is skewered and grilled, with a choice of chicken, Picanha (beef), top sirloin, (both beef cuts are from the top, the rump), and lamb. We ordered some of all. A few meals we had were round dinner plates, not the oval shown above. There was plenty of food on a round plate. Meat, with black beans, rice, salad, cassava, and a piece of bread. The place also serves sandwiches on Hoagies, but no one had one. I know everyone enjoyed themselves.

We have known this family since Nancy started at CWU in 1988, and the folks today are related to the first couple I met (as students) when I began my stay here in Ellensburg, Allison & Paul Martin. Paul’s sister Kathy was there with her hubby and three of their children and two of Alli & Paul’s 3 daughters were there. Kathy thinks we first met when she was 13. We had horses and she wanted to ride, and did get to on several occasions; at least once at a field trial when she stayed overnight with us.We had a blast for the afternoon, and got home before it was completely dark, so John could feed the horses. Kathy got John to smile!

Sunday, Nov 12

No CPAP – Oximetry for Nov 11: SpO2 low 85, 3 events <88% with overall avg., 92.2%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.6%. Pulse avg. 56.2, low 50. Slept 7 hrs 24 min.

John and Annie went outside – no rain. I worked on dishes and computer email notifications, and other messages that needed written. I got very behind from yesterday’s afternoon and evening activities. We had a long phone conversation with a long time Brittany friend in Oregon. Her hubby had a heart transplant in the same year I had my heart operation. They live in even a worse location than we do for medical attention. He’s having complications so we talked medicine, dogs, and much more.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John,
Still on the Naneum Fan

Back to Friday, 10-27-17 AAC Knighthood Medieval Party
(Apologies for the unfocused left of my camera – no clue why. Maybe I need a new one.)
Dancers, Women Joined by Men

King Curtis & Queen Marilyn Enter

Early Jousting

Final Jousting with Winner

Pictures on Facebook site of Ellensburg Adult Activity Center are the best, so I made a collage from a few of them.The medieval cast, dancers, and one of two tables for lunch.

Back to yesterday, Sunday, October 29

This next link goes way back to Oct 13, when John went to work on a trail at Candy Point trail, near Grand Coulee Dam, WA. The local newspaper sent a fellow, and he interviewed Alan of WTA.
News of Candy Point Trail

Monday, October 30

We published last week’s blog at 9:30 a.m. Whoopee!
We left at 10:15 for Valley Vision. Ran into all sorts of morning issues with road construction, bridge out on Bar 14, slow moving tractor with a front end loader carrying a dead cow, beauty of living in a rural area. On through bicyclists, a runner on a too narrow street, and more traffic, on our way to the eye doctor. Nancy drove in, and John drove home.

My appt was for 10:45 a.m. I got checked in and right away was back for 15 minutes of eye testing, pressure readings 17 & 18, and prep for the surgery. My eyes were dilated, with drops, and I waited 15 minutes for Dr. Li and his assistant to enter the room. He explained the procedure, and had me sign a Medicare form, and date that the eye surgery was happening on my left eye. His assistant explained the eye drops I will be using 4 times a day for 4 days. Prednisolene Acetate, which we picked up at Super 1 pharmacy. John went in for it, as well as getting me some English muffin toasting bread and some hamburger to cook for our lunch (with Swiss cheese).

Tuesday, October 31 HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Started early with loading the dishwasher and running it. I doctored my left eye, and sent last Friday’s videos to the AAC. Now to finish the photos – took me a couple hours, but I sent off 30 to AAC. They’re not up to my usual quality. Maybe a few will be of interest to someone.
My temperature at 9:00 a.m. on 10-31-17 is 96.5° F.

Went at 12:30 p.m. to my rural mile-away neighbor, Celia, for a haircut. She has cut my hair since I arrived in town, in 1988! Now she continues out of her house. I took her a bunch of jelly and salsa jars all wrapped up in paper, for the trip. Someone gave them to me long ago and I just uncovered them in the shed where I park the Forester.

John’s driving me in the truck to drop me off at AAC while he picks up a large barrel composter, bricks, and concrete, and he also brought home bags of leaves. Those from a neighbor 3 doors east of where he picked up the other stuff.

I consulted with Katrina and Tina about the plans for Friday’s Veterans’ Celebration. Then the 3 of us did 22 minutes of vigorous exercise.

On to get gasoline for $2.82/gallon and we put a lot in the Ford 350, and also into two containers for lawn mower, chain saw, and emergency refill of any of the autos getting home on fumes.

I found out my “floater” is normal with the laser surgery procedure used to break up the film on my lens. It will go away in a couple weeks. Let’s hope. John has had Weiss Ring Floaters since December of 2009, so he is not impressed.

Supper was salad with iceberg lettuce, Bleu cheese dressing, cut up Gala apple, cut up smoked chicken breast, and I had Cheezits for croutons. John fixed a casserole he had some of, but I waited for a later night. It had chicken, celery, soup, green beans, and walnuts. And a tiny amount of Lentils – end of bag.

Need to take my meds and get some sleep. Might be difficult with 47 mph gusts banging things around outside and sending noises into the house.

Wednesday, November 1

Winds last night were awful — keeping me awake most of the night, less so for John.
My temperature at 8:38 a.m. 11-1 was 96.7° F.

I had a good breakfast with John before I left for town: Sausage, 2 eggs over easy, and a piece of toast. Late morning I headed for the Food Bank. I got a parking space right by the door, carted my stuff in, checked in, and went back to the bread room, then talked to the new Volunteer coordinator (named Elise). After music and lunch, I was back in the car.

I went on to SAIL class at the activity center. There was a meeting this afternoon from 3:30 to 5:00, which I came back to attend, after filling my car with gasoline, and going by Bi-Mart for supplies. I stayed almost the entire time at the meeting, visiting with all sorts of people I knew and did not know.

Supper: A good salad, apples, lettuce, smoked turkey, pistachios, hard-boiled egg, Bleu cheese dressing and Cheezits. John had some of his casserole, but I didn’t have any tonight.

Thursday, Nov 2

Breakfast: sausage, 2 eggs over easy, toast, and fresh pears.

John had a bunch of outside chores, mainly to repair a fence and get water to the horses, as the irrigation ditch is drying up as water in the creek drops below the outtake. I primarily worked on music to take some today to give to a couple people needing it for tomorrow’s shindig at the AAC for Veterans’ Day celebration (early).

We left for Rehab music at 1:10 p.m. John helped me carry stuff in, and sat in the TV/visiting room to catch up on his WSJ reading. He then came down for the ending and carried my stuff back out to the car.

We left there for the AAC to deliver music for the audience tomorrow, so they have it. While there, I received news of the change in plans for the content order of the program for tomorrow. Our music has been moved to the end, and then we will eat after that.

I worked on music tonight for tomorrow. Changed the key for singing the National Anthem, because I need to start (with the help of our accordion player), the first 3 notes of the song so that everyone is in the same key.

We have to get to bed earlier tonight, to get our rest for the long day tomorrow.
Casserole for dinner. Very good.

Friday, Nov 3

I had forgotten to take off my Oximetry, so did it at 12:32 am. Saturday, before settling in for the night.

Today, John and I left home at 10:30 a.m. with the music and stands I needed for the crew. We had 14 musicians there, and we were last on the program. Our group is the Kittitas Valley Fiddlers & Friends. I played the fiddle with 2 others, one was on a viola, an accordion, guitars, bass mandolin, bass guitar, 12- and 6-string guitars, banjo, and (flute, penny whistle, mini washboard), and harmonica).

Then, the different branches of the military were asked to stand and be recognized. While they were standing, Karen Eslinger (accordion) played each branch’s theme song, and the audience sang along and clapped in time to the music.

Then the staff began serving lunch: meatloaf, baked potato, mixed green salad, apple slices, and a nice celebration piece of cake at the end.

After about ½ the people had been served, and talking dwindled, we started playing our 13 songs (patriotic and USA songs), with the audience having copies of the lyrics to sing along if they wished. Many did. And we received many compliments afterwards. We do this every year at the Senior Center.

Here are some pictures John took and I’ve made into collages.

Apples, plates, and cake for lunch.

Honors for veterans and double MCs leading the ceremony.

Dean was in the Navy. * * * * * Charlie was in the Air Force.

Nancy introducing the musicians & the music, and the band.

They served the musicians our meals at the end of our music.

We left as soon as we could to get home, change clothes, get our boxes of apples ready to take to the WTA office crew, get the directions for getting there loaded, and packed for our trip over. I drove over with John giving me pacenotes along I-90, and leading me through the maze of streets in Seattle. The whole trip was a little over 2 hours. We had 30° temperatures on the pass, with just a bit of snow showers. There was light rain at lower elevations. At the Pass it is 3,000 feet.

We got there in time to visit with a bunch of people we know, and some we did not know quite as well. We ate a nice catered dinner, and began the Volunteer Recognition program. John was recognized for his Work Bench award received after 250 work days on the trails. He started with WTA about 2003 on a week-long trip and now has 265. Full Bench(250) Crosscut Saw (500 days on trail), Greg Friend

Here are two videos I took during the ceremony.

White Hat presented at WTA Volunteer Recognition 11/3/17 Tim Van Beek & Andrea Imler present thanks to Greg Paull
White Hat WTA award

Reya Fore speaks of her involvement in trail work & hiking
Youth Ambassador

Our trip back was fine, and John drove. We got almost to the Pass, and saw a miles long parking lot on the other side of the valley (the westbound lanes of I-90 from about MP 50). Stoppages occurred at Easton and just west of the pass, because of “spin outs” on ice or slush. People go too fast and follow too closely, so when one loses traction there usually are several cars involved.

Saturday, Nov 4

While looking for information on the I-90 closure at the pass after we passed through last night heading west, and then seeing the long stoppage of traffic, after 8:00 p.m. on our way home (we were Eastbound, and saw it on the westbound), looking like a linear parking lot.

I found this from Oct 19 on the Tumwater Canyon (Leavenworth), fall colors, in a “Hyperlapse” video of fall colors. Warning is from Trooper Brian Moore (who is the WA State Patrol District 6 Information Officer for Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Kittitas, and Okanogan Counties). Several weeks ago, we posted his photos of the turnover of a semi trailer rig on Hwy 97, Blewett/Swauk Pass, north of us, on the way to Wenatchee and Leavenworth. His comment with this video – Use pullouts for photos. Do not park on narrow shoulders. (Nancy’s comments from reading the comments following the story): The following video is 31 seconds long, taken from a stationary camera in a patrol car, at 9:03 am., 19 Oct 2017; safety turned on and off parked off the side of the road, and edited afterwards.

“Hyperlapse” video of fall colors in Tumwater Cyn Leavenworth. Use pullouts for photos. Do not park on narrow shoulders. #BeSafe. pic.twitter.com/19UHJBHalE

— Trooper Brian Moore (@wspd6pio) October 19, 2017

John made a barricade by the old red barn from old 2 x 4s we got from our friend Evie’s dismantling of a deck/porch. It was to keep the horses out of where they shouldn’t be, but allow them to get to their horse trough (heated) of water for the winter. John took part of a fence down for our recent hay delivery but did not get it pulled back into place. Today, he moved two 12-foot panels to prevent Breeze from pushing under a temporary rope fence. He’s good at escaping, and stepping through places you would not expect. If none of the other 3 follow him he will soon go back.

Lunch: egg/Swiss cheese omelet (1/4 piece), bacon, fried baked potato, with the last of the Alisha Craig white sweet onions. They are not keepers so over the past 3 weeks or so we’ve been using them. The sales info says they keep just a month. True for some, but these were harvested about 11 weeks ago.

I worked on email chores, photography stuff, medical records (Oximetry), and notes to people about various things. Sent birthday cards (I am very behind), sent out the Earth Science Weekly list, sent to me by a fellow geographer in Michigan I have known many years, put away cleaned dishes, and all the normal chores around the house we’d ignored the end of this week. I need to spend a bunch of time on the photographs John took yesterday at the Veteran’s Celebration, and I took last night at the WTA Volunteer Recognition Event at REI.

Finally finished the letter to Alan Carter Mortimer at WTA. Alan had been north of Seattle during the day, and got snowed on. He thought maybe we would not try to come. John knew the storm was going to arrive later at the Pass, and we zipped up and down into Puget Sound without incident.

Worked on music tidying up for next July 4, using the stuff from yesterday’s Veterans’ day, so I’m set to go then. We use the same music. I need to change the stuff I’m carrying back to the Oct-Nov music through the end of this month. Then we change to December and Christmas music, with a couple lead-ins of Thanksgiving songs.

Supper: shared two chicken TV dinners, both chicken different types.

John beat me to bed, but now I’m collapsing there. Supposed to snow tomorrow, and the field trip he was planning to go on was cancelled. Glad we made it over to Seattle and back last night. The Seattle weather forecasts are good for 2 or 3 days out. Systems develop on the Ocean and how they come into the Puget Lowland is well understood.

Sunday, Nov 5

John started by broom pushing snow, feeding the birds, and two outside cats. He also ordered more ink cartridges for our printer and a new heated water bowl for the outside feral cats that now arrive morning and night and throughout the day at our front porch.

I’ve worked a lot on email changes from the old account, and on emails about last week’s activities. I need to get to work on the blog and all the Veterans and WTA photos.

We are about ready to have breakfast: omelet, bacon, toast and a few fried potatoes – mostly left from yesterday.
Supper was a nice salad, and then baked chicken, a half of a baked potato, with baked apples on the side.

Great news from Jeri Conklin, right before I ate:
Daisy had a nice weekend of runs as well with a 4th place win out of 18 dogs in the Open Gun Dog yesterday. Today, she had another nice run with great bird work and didn’t place, but I’m so proud of her. She handles so nicely for me. Thank you Nelson Kennels, Scott and Deanna Beals-Azevedo and Linda Azevedo. Nancy B. Hultquist – I couldn’t have asked for more from her. 7 birds on Saturday, 3 birds today. No pictures as it was so late yesterday. Thank you judges Greg Knight and Warren Eizman for yesterday’s recognition. Judge Jeff Rhine, it was a pleasure to present her to you today.

Hope Your Week Was Fine
Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan

… so see previous post

Back to yesterday, Sunday, October 22

Report from Jeri Conklin about our dog, Daisy’s running in the Southern San Joaquin Brittany Trial, in CA. Here’s a collage of the day.Daisy on one of her best runs this year; Scott handling her away from the covey of quail find (she had two), at the end with Jeri Conklin. Sadly, with the good run, and 2 covey finds handled well, she was not included in the placements.

Monday, October 23

No CPAP – Oximetry for Oct 22: SpO2 low 84, 15 events <88% with overall avg., 92.2%. Avg. low SpO2, 90.2%. Pulse avg. 55.1, low 50. Slept 7 hrs 1 min. At 9:39 a.m. BP 127/69 pulse 63

Found out Gloria is moving to Hearthstone, to a 2-bedroom apartment upstairs.

Things we delivered yesterday included a 5-gallon bucket of Black walnuts still in their husks and a box of Carpathian walnuts out of their husks, we left on their front porch.

A collage of Amy’s Haley photos, she posted on Facebook. Haley, excited find; cracked with cool nutcracker; picked half.

The next collage is of the preschool science activities Amy set up for this week, with the walnuts:Black walnuts in husks, tree leaf comparison, the husked black walnuts from our yard. The Carpathians (English) we gave them that John already husked, many of them fall to the ground with the husk open already, unlike the Black Walnuts.Only the title page with 4 pages of a cool “primer” book Amy Davison made for teaching about nuts in their Preschoolers’ class. They also examined the different nuts and tasted them.

At 10:05pm BP 113/63 pulse 64

Late afternoon, we went to the Eberhart orchard and picked mostly HoneyCrisp apples, with a few Galas, and a very few Romes.Probably Galas on tree; boxed after picked, HoneyCrisp, perhaps.

Tuesday, October 24

No CPAP – Oximetry for Oct 23: SpO2 low 84, 11 events <88% with overall avg., 92.1%. Avg. low SpO2, 90.3%. Pulse avg. 55.6, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 15 min

John left at 5:55 a.m. for Grand Ridge, in Issaquah Hts., WTA trail work, supposedly in good weather today. Low at airport overnight was 32° when John was leaving this morning (airport is 5 miles south of us).

My temperature at 10:44 a.m. on 10-24-17 is 96.8°F.
I slept in late! Frost on the ground still from last night.
Wrote Katrina about the Nov 3 plans, copied Karen E.
Unloaded dishwasher; started soaking & loading again, all day, working on it. Finally, I started it late.

By Bi-Mart for checking numbers (didn’t win), checked but they are out of anymore Fisherman’s Friends. I have lived on them the past 5 weeks and am continuing this week.

I fed the outside cats, and let Annie out to meet John. He called from just down the road. Except for the Appreciation Event on Friday, Nov. 3, this is his last WTA trip for 2017.

John got home at 5:25 p.m., before dark! He took Annie for her evening run and to check on and feed the horses.

My temperature at 10:12 p.m. on 10-24-17 is 97.2° F.

Wednesday, October 25

No CPAP – Oximetry for Oct 24: SpO2 low 85, 4 events <88% with overall avg., 91.5%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.2%. Pulse avg. 57.1, low 50. Slept 9 hrs 15 min. Long haul; guess I needed it. My temperature at 9:52 a.m. today was 97.7° F.

I had a good breakfast with John before I left: omelet with onions & mushrooms, piece of farm bread toast. I arrived late, had help carting my violin and music into the FISH Food Bank, went on in to visit with people, and played music from noon to 12:30. I didn’t stay for lunch because of my big breakfast.

I ran some errands around town, talked to Gloria, and found her at the Millstone Loop house, dropped off some rolls and the prunes and she’ll pay me the $9 later (for the prunes from Costco). We visited and I left. She will come down to the Garden Room tomorrow for music at Hearthstone, from her new apt.

I went on to SAIL class at the activity center (seniors). Got home after SAIL was over, about 3:00 p.m. and started on things around here.

John showed me the flue cap for our wood stove. It was so cold last December and January we burned wood for about 7 weeks straight. Not good. Not advised. The burning ember screen at the top had completely closed up with “First Degree Creosote Buildup” – look it up. That caused the stove to quit. With howling wind and minus temperature, he did not clean it then. Today was the day to have a look. He climbed up and took the cap off and brought it down to clean. He has taken photos to send to the Fosseems place in Yakima, where we bought it. They might be interested, or not.

Here is a photo:Lower right, for scale, are 3 Black Walnuts in their husks.

One on-line site claims these things should be removed and cleaned every two weeks. The smallish screen size is the standard to prevent embers from escaping. As the wood stove is meant for emergencies, maybe we will stick to that plan.

Supper: John fixed a nice bowl of Chili and beans, onions, for our dinner. It was scrumptious, and also he cut up a Rome apple for me to eat with it. I love Romes as eating apples. I don’t think we picked very many.

Thursday, October 26

No CPAP – Oximetry for Oct 25: SpO2 low 85, 8 events <88% with overall avg., 91.3%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.8%. Pulse avg. 56.1, low 50. Slept 8 hrs 20 min.

Breakfast: sausage, piece of omelet with mushrooms & onions, white toast w/ strawberry jam, fruit cocktail.

My temperature was 97.1° F at 10:35 a.m.

David arrived at 10:45 to trim Myst. I carried him the check and John got Myst. Annie got to visit with Dave and be petted.

We’re leaving (1:10 P.M.) for Hearthstone music at 2 P.M. and John will help me carry stuff in, and also will sit in the activities room and catch up on his reading of the WSJ.

We visited with a few folks before leaving, and Amy took a photo of me with Haley in our Halloween outfits. I’ll merge it with one of Haley in the Japanese Gardens at CWU. The fall of the year is a beautiful time to visit there. The resulting collage is below:Haley w/ Spider Web, Nancy w/ Pumpkins in Love, John in back, portrait of Haley in CWU’s Japanese Gardens, by mom, Amy.

Afterwards, we will run by 3 places before coming home. We went first to Super 1 for their sales, and never made it to the CWU surplus sale before 4:00 closing, but went by 110 10th, in the alley behind, to check on a composter’s size a woman is giving away. We could not find it. I found it later in the week.

Late lunch about 5:25 bowl of chili, beans, onions, tomatoes, John made yesterday.

Supper at 8:00 p.m., was salad with iceberg lettuce, bleu cheese dressing, pistachios, cut up Gala apple, cut up smoked turkey breast from Super 1 we got today, we each had a large AA hard-boiled egg, and I had Cheezits for croutons.

A mouse has been coming in at night, behind my recliner and bothering me. John set a trap. Just before 10:00 p.m. the mouse went to meet her/his maker. Three days later the reset trap with peanut butter and a Cheezit was untouched. No more mice in the den, so it is reset in the garage, where no cats can enter.

My temperature at 10:16 p.m. on 10-26-17 is 97.5° F.

We are enjoying a dessert of chocolate cake with roasted walnuts on top of chocolate frosting and a bit of ice cream.

Friday, October 27

No CPAP – Oximetry for Oct 26: SpO2 low 85, 16 events <88% with overall avg., 91.9%. Avg. low SpO2, 87.4%. Pulse avg. 59.1, low 55. Slept 4 hrs 59 min. (on Oximeter), & went another 4 hrs. off; battery died. My temperature at 10:06 a.m. on 10-27-17 is 97.4° F.

I went for my INR and BMP today. Got there about 1:00 p.m.; received my results at home at 4:00 p.m. INR=3.0 (better); BMP had the Sodium up to 134 (yea); Potassium was a little high at 5.0, creatinine was elevated at 1.5, but at the moment I do not have my personal reference. Being high means I’m dehydrated, or something, so to be watched. Not sure how with all I have been drinking, and the PowerAdeZero. Today was a diuretic (Lasix) day, but I didn’t take it until after I was home from the blood draw. ??? My PCP will be asked Monday, if I should have it checked Nov. 10 with the others.

I went to the AAC, with two cameras, John’s and mine, but only used mine. I should have used John’s for the portraits, because mine wasn’t focusing well on the left side of the lens. I did get some good videos, however, that I couldn’t have gotten with John’s camera. Oh well, live and learn.

I haven’t processed those photos yet, so they will have to wait for a small collage and at least 2 videos.

Went by Suzanne Blakeney’s and found the composter she is willing to give us, but John needs to unload the truck and go back next week for it. I have known her many years at CWU, where she was a student, and took at least one of my classes.

Upon arriving home, found a message that took me back to EBRG. Potatoes had arrived from Moses Lake and the folks did not want to chance a freezing temperature. I had 3 boxes of 50# of clean baking Russet potatoes. Help was there to load as I can’t lift 50 pounds. Dropped one box off at Celia’s (my neighbor a mile away). I’ll take the other in on Tuesday or Wednesday to my friend from S. Cle Elum, who I’ll see at an exercise class and the Food Bank.

My temperature at 10:51 p.m. on 10-27-17 is 97.2° F.

Saturday, October 28

No CPAP – Oximetry for Oct 27: SpO2 low 83, 17 events <88% with overall avg., 91.5%. Avg. low SpO2, 87.3%. Pulse avg. 58.7, low 52. Slept 8 hrs 4 min.

Called in our Rx – John’s Lisinopril 30 and my Amiordarone 200 (cut into ¼ parts). They will have them ready today !

My temperature at 9:30 a.m. on 10-28-17 is 97.4° F.

I spent over an hour cleaning and loading the dishwasher and tossing food cans and tops. Phew. Wore me out. John’s been doing outside chores.

We went to pick apples this afternoon at Eberhart’s. We picked for a couple hours, mostly Galas, we think. Came away with about 10 boxes, and we both picked the entire time. The main purpose is to take boxes on Monday (after my eye surgery) to the AAC (Senior Center) for them to wash and use at two events this week, if they wish. Wednesday, Nov 1 is a special event there to have Aging and Long Term Care, Pacifica Senior Living, Hospice Friends, RSVP, and KVH Advanced Care Planning to have an open house to provide information to the community from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 about issues important to seniors. There will be raffle door prizes, refreshments, live music, and information provided.

Next is a Veterans Day event planned for Nov 3, Friday, at the AAC. [ Photo from last year ]Nov 3 this Friday’s lunch (and people have to sign up by Wednesday, 11/1), (knowing the names of the veterans to be there is important for planning the program honoring of each branch of the military, after the lunch. A count is needed for the people there to eat lunch, as well as the veterans who will be in attendance. This is an annual event in honor of Veterans in our community. Be there by 11:30 and seated for lunch (and for our playing, Fiddlers & Friends). A color guard starts the ceremony. Vets are encouraged to wear their uniforms or insignia of their military service branch. A meal will be served of Meatloaf, Baked Potato, and sides, with beverages, cold and hot. Our music group, Kittitas Valley Fiddlers & Friends will play 13 songs about America and the U.S A., starting after everyone is served. The audience will have the lyrics to the songs, to sing along. After the 13 songs, everyone will stand, face the flag, salute, and sing the National Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner (acapella) – no instruments, although I will start the song (in the key of F – so the notes are not too high to sing).

We had to go to town first to drop off 2 flat tires from John’s Gorilla Cart, to have repaired. They told us they would have them ready in the afternoon, and gave us a number to call to check before we drove the 20 minutes back to town.

We also had to stop at Super 1 for a prescription for John and one for me, and while I was getting them, he went and bought some produce for us. We had beautiful sunny weather and lovely autumn leaves to view on our trips around the county.

We probably picked 10 boxes of apples, (mostly donated wine boxes, from Grocery Outlet). We gave one box to the people at Les Schwab. The only cost we incurred was for one tube. They were thrilled with the apples and while we were there, several were eaten – unwashed – oh well. On our way home, we dropped a box off with Carole Pritchett. We stopped and shared a box of apples with the Farrars, checked with Charlie but someone already gave them some, called another family, but they were out of town, until Sunday, so we decided not to risk freezing temps. We carried a box to our neighbor a mile up Naneum from us, Allen Aronica. We still have apples we picked last week at the same place. I had my camera with me today, but didn’t take it with me to the trees. Could have had some lovely pictures of red apples surrounded by yellow leaves, with rays of sunshine. Instead, it will just have to be in our memories. We truly enjoyed the red colors around very vivid this year. Red maples and shorter thorny shrubs in peoples’ yards gave us nice colors.

Sunday, October 29

No CPAP – Oximetry for Oct 28: SpO2 low 85, 7 events <88% with overall avg., 91.1%. Avg. low SpO2, 89.1%. Pulse avg. 55.9, low 50. Slept 7 hrs 31min.

I gave John a long awaited haircut, and then he fixed us a late brunch.

We had smoked turkey on a large egg with Parmesan cheese, and a piece of toast. The turkey was the last of a pre-packaged thinly sliced bag – not really tasty. The store was out of their own smoked pieces that are great, so this was the substitute. Now gone.

I just went out and admired John’s cleaning up of the garage. He’s frustrated with all the stuff that needs thrown away or moved from there. He had me look at 2 boxes that had not been opened since I shipped them from my mother’s house in Atlanta many years ago. One box I recognized. One I don’t remember having seen it. We park expensive autos outside and store junk in the garage. I’m helping by staying inside and working on chores in the house, on the computer, and need to work on the blog.

My temperature at 3:15 p.m. on 10-29 was 96.7° F.

Dinner was a part of a baked potato with roast beef over the top, with onions, tomatoes, gravy, mushrooms, celery, and cauliflower raw on the side with Bleu Cheese dressing.

Nice dessert – small piece of Pecan Pie with a little ice cream. I deserve it after weighing without clothes, and my weight is down. I need to go in for my weigh in, and measurements I have missed for over a month. At least I won’t have to take a shower in the cold morning, in the far reaches of our house.

Hope your week was fine.

Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan